1. South-Side Pier/Lake Street, Huntington Beach Mid-February
   This is the best combo swell I can ever remember surfing at Huntington. A sizable Northwest winter swell had combined with an out of season Southwest swell to produce primo conditions. Consistently overhead with the bigger sets going one foot overhead. On this day Huntington was at its finest.

   I showed up on scene around 6:30AM and immediately hit the water. I was greeted by light offshores and clear blue skies. A-Frame peaks were created by the two swells slamming into each other. You could go either way, left or right. I didn't have any of my waves close out on me this day. Anyone who surfs Huntington with any regularity knows this doesn't happen very often. I would drop in on the peak, carve a bottom turn, and then work the section for all it was worth, knowing it wouldn't close out.

   About an hour and a half into the session I wondered whether conditions were this good only at the pier. I sat up on my board and looked south. What I saw was picture perfect. The A-Frames were working as far as the eye could see. Was it crowded this day? You bet. But there were so many waves and every one was in such a great mood - this was definitely my best session of the year.

   The next day I picked up a copy of the OC Register, only to see on the front page a full color, half page photo of some guy cranking a bottom turn at the pier. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought it ripped that day.

2. The Gap/Cliffs, Huntington Beach Late November
   Slept in this day thinking there wouldn't be much swell. Boy was I wrong!

   Showed up at the Cliffs around 9:00AM to see that a Northwest swell was cranking. Anyone who surfs the Cliffs knows that it picks up any NW swell. However, conditions are often walled. It takes just the right angle to make it fire. And man was it working today.

   Sets consistently going one foot overhead. Glassy conditions and very makeable sections. What made this day stand out, though, was the barrels! These were the easiest waves to get barreled on that I surfed all year. Just pull in, hang high, and it was a sure thing. Many guys were stuck deep inside the barrel, and somehow managed to get spit out. I made it out of a few. But, on the one's I didn't make it out of I still got a really long ride inside the tube before the wave closed out.

   I even had my longest barrel ride of the year this morning. How long? Well, I know it probably seemed about three times longer than it actually was, but let's just say I was cruising for a while. The interesting thing about this barrel was that I knew from the get go I wasn't going to make it out. I couldn't even see the exit I was so far back. But I hung in there and enjoyed the ride.

   The barrels were truly unstoppable this day.

3. South-Side Pier, Huntington Beach December 31, 1999

   I had made my New Year's Eve plans about 4 months ago. I had discussed them with a friend over dinner. I told him that no matter how big or how small, now matter how windy or cold or rainy, I was going surfing at midnight on New Year's Eve. He looked at me kind of strange but knew I was serious.

   So eventually the day arrived. I showed up around 10:30PM to check out the scene downtown. Not much going on. The only two bars that were packed were Perqs and the Longboard Cafe. Everywhere else was embarrassingly empty, especially the Sunset Grill. In fact, I saw a group of inebriates abruptly stop their jaunt down Main Street to bang on the windows of the Sunset Grill and mockingly yell "You guys are having way too much in there!" And, of course, the HB cops were cruising up and down Main Street, looking completely bored.

   I suited up in the North Side parking lot. I saw that there was one lifeguard truck on duty, cruising up and down the waterline. I quickly scampered across Main Plaza and across the sand to the edge of the water. There was no one out (not that it was any surprise).

   The surf this evening was small, knee high at best. However, the air was warm and the water was not bad at 58 degrees. A little off-shore even picked up around 11:30PM.

   I paddled out and had the entire line-up to myself. The waves were breaking just past Tower Zero on the pier. The lefts actually weren't half bad, for knee high waves. There was a mini shoulder that whisked you right up to the pylons, and then promptly died, as all less than head high waves that break in this particular spot seem to do.

   A lull was coming over the surf. About 5-6 minutes without a set. I began to think about midnight. I didn't know exactly when midnight would hit since my watch wasn't synchronized. However, I could tell when it was getting close. A policeman sounded his sirens and the crowd at Dukes/Chimayo became quite raucous. I said to myself, this is it, I'll just sit here on my board and calmly usher in the new Millennium.

   The Duke's crowd started the ten count, which was clearly audible to me.
   10..
   9..What a minute, is that a wave I see?
   8..It sure is.
   7..Paddle
   6..Paddle
   5..Paddle
   4..I turned around and swung myself right into this knee high wonder. I was up and riding.

   The crowd at Duke's went silent to me. I couldn't hear the final countdown. I was in my own world, cruising on a wave, right into the new Millennium.

   Wouldn't have it any other way, though I never could have planned it to end like that.